FROME teenager Patrick Mead will be raising awareness about sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) in a new BBC documentary screening this week.
Patrick’s sister, Lauren Mead who was a Frome College student, died suddenly in her sleep in 2019 at the age of 19.
Her death was registered as SADS – which is caused by genetic heart conditions – and in the one-off documentary special, ‘Sudden Death: My Sister’s Silent Killer’, 19-year old Patrick learns more about SADS, and talks to others affected by premature sudden cardiac death.
“It was an unforgettable experience,” said Patrick speaking to Frome Times. “Being able to learn more about SADS the way I did, and talk to other people who had been through similar experiences – it helped to open my eyes a bit more and helped me process what happened to Lauren.”
The documentary follows Patrick, who struggled to talk to his friends and family following Lauren’s death, as he attends a bereavement counselling session in London with other young people who have lost a sibling to SADS, and also shows him talking to retired professional footballer Fabrice Muamba who survived SADS after collapsing halfway through a match at White Hart Lane in 2012.
“Hearing other people’s experiences and being able to relate that to my own helped,” said Patrick, who is in Year 13 at Frome College. “Being able to talk to people that understand how you are feeling and what you want to say, definitely helps.”
Patrick and his parents, Paddy and Maria, are also shown in the documentary undergoing cardiac tests in the hope of understanding what happened to Lauren.
And Patrick is hopeful that the documentary could help increase awareness of the need for more cardiac screening in young people, to help prevent SADS and save lives.
“Hopefully people will become aware of what SADS is and how big of an issue it is,” said Patrick. “I hadn’t heard of it before Lauren passed, and everybody else I asked didn’t know about it before somebody that they knew had passed away from it.
“So more awareness of SADS and hopefully a push for more screening for it, would be an ideal outcome from people watching the documentary.
“Sharing my story, and sharing the knowledge of what SADS is and how big of an impact it can have on people’s lives – I hope it makes people across the nation more aware, hopefully leading to more screening and more funding towards research.”
Since Lauren’s death in 2019, the Mead family have raised thousands of pounds for cardiac charity SADS UK – Patrick shaved his head last year, and his father, Paddy – who describes his son as “inspirational” in the documentary – is in training for the London Marathon later this year.
“I want to do more fundraising and help raise awareness,” said Patrick about what he plans to do next after the documentary has aired.
“And I would like to say thank you for all the support that we’ve had from the Frome community.”
‘Sudden Death: My Sister’s Silent Killer’ will be screened on Wednesday 14th April at 10.45pm on BBC1. It is also available on the BBC’s online catch-up service, iPlayer: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09c54gg
For more information about SADS, visit the website: www.sadsuk.org.uk
